150 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK 9 - 15 MARCH 1876
This week's many stories include the pigeon shooting on Croppers Hill, the feckless Feigh family are back in trouble, the Dentons Green Lane drowning, the spelling bee in Waterloo Street, the clog kicking of constables in Parr and the stealing from the till of the Swan Inn in Cotham Street.
These days, of course, bird shooting is banned – apart from game birds which can only be shot at certain times of the year. But there were no limits 150 years ago with shoots often taking place involving the release of captured birds. That did not mean that everyone approved of such slaughter and the St Helens Newspaper on the 11th included a letter that was critical of the practice.
The writer claimed that "would-be sportsmen" had recently used a field adjacent to the Engineer Hall on Croppers Hill to kill "defenceless pigeons". The anonymous correspondent added: "After having killed or maimed all the pigeons, they retired, feeling no doubt very much elated by the signal bravery displayed." The writer also wondered if Major Rothwell – who was in charge of the 2nd Lancashire Engineer Volunteers – approved of the field being used for "such an unmanly purpose".
Much of the St Helens district was quite rural in the 1870s with lots of open spaces. Insights into the more rustic town would sometimes appear in the Newspaper within their reports on crimes or tragedies. This week in their account of a man's body that was discovered in Dentons Green Lane we learn that there was then a deep pond and a field. That could have been Littler's Field, pictured above with the eponymous Mrs Littler, although it was probably a different one.
A farmhand ploughing the field had spotted the unknown deceased man in his late forties floating in the pond and informed the police. It clearly was not a small pond as PC Daniel Callister needed to drag the water to retrieve the body, which was then taken to the Gerard Arms ready for the inquest. Two days later the hearing was held in the pub and the usual open verdict of "found drowned" was returned.
Although enquiries would continue into the man's identity, the case had all the hallmarks of a mystery that would never be solved. There were a few clues, such as a pawn ticket from a Liverpool shop and wearing a jacket with buttons bearing the stamp of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. But such deaths were common and it was most likely that the man would never be identified and no-one would know how he came to end his days drowned in a Dentons Green field.
In an editorial the Newspaper warned against what we might call fake news when detailing the causes of epidemics. They wrote of the "great danger arising from mistaken notions of the cause and spread of infectious disease". The paper said that in St Helens, "the fact of our having a deteriorated and impure atmosphere may cause many, through the want of proper and reliable information, to attribute various forms of disease to causes which are quite remote from the real ones."
The Newspaper even thought that the noxious vapours and impurities in the St Helens and Widnes atmosphere were to a very considerable extent specific to the two towns and not found in the same way elsewhere.
I always thought that spelling bee was an American term but the Newspaper used it in describing an event held at the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street this week. Fifty competitors took part in the spelling event, which had two classes for adults and juveniles. The Newspaper said the quality of spelling was remarkably good and prizes such as a pencil case, writing desk, a book and dictionaries were handed out to the winners.
The five members of the Feigh family were regularly in trouble, usually for drunkenness and petty theft. Father Denis had dozens of convictions and his wife Margaret had more than twenty. Their three sons were also often in court and because of the notoriety of their family, they received few favours.
This week Patrick and John Feigh appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with playing pitch and toss in Garden Street in Greenbank. They had been caught playing the illegal gambling game along with Michael Garritty, who was also in court. However, he was only fined a shilling, plus costs. However, because of their past history, the Feigh brothers had to pay £1 each, as well as costs, or go to prison for 28 days. That would have been a week's wages and so, once again, Kirkdale Gaol was almost certainly the lads' destination.
A pint of beer cost 2½d in St Helens in 1876. At least that was how much the Swan Inn in Cotham Street was charging. That information is gleaned from the report of a court case in which Samuel Smith was charged with stealing from the pub's till. The 23-year-old had tendered half-a-crown for a pint of beer and received a florin and 3½d in change.
Smith had been served by Ellen Morris, who was the pub's landlady, and after attending to the man she had briefly left the bar and gone into another room. But she heard money being jingled in the bar and quickly returned to find the till open after being emptied of its contents and Samuel Smith in the act of departing. Ellen asked him what he had done with the cash but Smith replied that he had not touched it.
The police were called and upon searching the man found 10s 5½d on him, which corresponded almost exactly with the money missing from the till. But as Smith in St Helens Petty Sessions continued to protest his innocence, he was committed to take his trial at the next Kirkdale Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to four months hard labour.
Robert Rimmer was also in the Petty Sessions after refusing to leave the Albion Vaults in Parr after being requested to do so. PCs Sheriff and Murney had been summoned to the pub and when they got hold of Rimmer to put him out of the house, he immediately turned violent and kicked both constables with his clogs.
The man then threw himself to the ground and the officers had to place their prisoner in a 2-wheel spring cart to get him to the police station. But the magistrates decided to only fine Rimmer 10 shillings and costs after considering that the violence was not serious. I think if someone had repeatedly kicked me with their clogs, I'd have thought it serious!
And in another pub-related case, James Robinson was charged with being in the back premises of the Peel Arms in Westfield Street for the purpose of committing a felony. At 12:35am PC Hargreaves had watched Robinson trying several doors in the street and then saw him go into the backyard of the Peel Arms. Upon following the man he witnessed him in the act of trying a back window and so nabbed him. Robinson was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the popularity of guinea cat in St Helens, the theft from the Theatre Royal, the men prosecuted for not going to work and the Gerards Bridge daughter who stole her mother's clothes.
These days, of course, bird shooting is banned – apart from game birds which can only be shot at certain times of the year. But there were no limits 150 years ago with shoots often taking place involving the release of captured birds. That did not mean that everyone approved of such slaughter and the St Helens Newspaper on the 11th included a letter that was critical of the practice.
The writer claimed that "would-be sportsmen" had recently used a field adjacent to the Engineer Hall on Croppers Hill to kill "defenceless pigeons". The anonymous correspondent added: "After having killed or maimed all the pigeons, they retired, feeling no doubt very much elated by the signal bravery displayed." The writer also wondered if Major Rothwell – who was in charge of the 2nd Lancashire Engineer Volunteers – approved of the field being used for "such an unmanly purpose".
A farmhand ploughing the field had spotted the unknown deceased man in his late forties floating in the pond and informed the police. It clearly was not a small pond as PC Daniel Callister needed to drag the water to retrieve the body, which was then taken to the Gerard Arms ready for the inquest. Two days later the hearing was held in the pub and the usual open verdict of "found drowned" was returned.
Although enquiries would continue into the man's identity, the case had all the hallmarks of a mystery that would never be solved. There were a few clues, such as a pawn ticket from a Liverpool shop and wearing a jacket with buttons bearing the stamp of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. But such deaths were common and it was most likely that the man would never be identified and no-one would know how he came to end his days drowned in a Dentons Green field.
In an editorial the Newspaper warned against what we might call fake news when detailing the causes of epidemics. They wrote of the "great danger arising from mistaken notions of the cause and spread of infectious disease". The paper said that in St Helens, "the fact of our having a deteriorated and impure atmosphere may cause many, through the want of proper and reliable information, to attribute various forms of disease to causes which are quite remote from the real ones."
The Newspaper even thought that the noxious vapours and impurities in the St Helens and Widnes atmosphere were to a very considerable extent specific to the two towns and not found in the same way elsewhere.
I always thought that spelling bee was an American term but the Newspaper used it in describing an event held at the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street this week. Fifty competitors took part in the spelling event, which had two classes for adults and juveniles. The Newspaper said the quality of spelling was remarkably good and prizes such as a pencil case, writing desk, a book and dictionaries were handed out to the winners.
The five members of the Feigh family were regularly in trouble, usually for drunkenness and petty theft. Father Denis had dozens of convictions and his wife Margaret had more than twenty. Their three sons were also often in court and because of the notoriety of their family, they received few favours.
This week Patrick and John Feigh appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with playing pitch and toss in Garden Street in Greenbank. They had been caught playing the illegal gambling game along with Michael Garritty, who was also in court. However, he was only fined a shilling, plus costs. However, because of their past history, the Feigh brothers had to pay £1 each, as well as costs, or go to prison for 28 days. That would have been a week's wages and so, once again, Kirkdale Gaol was almost certainly the lads' destination.
A pint of beer cost 2½d in St Helens in 1876. At least that was how much the Swan Inn in Cotham Street was charging. That information is gleaned from the report of a court case in which Samuel Smith was charged with stealing from the pub's till. The 23-year-old had tendered half-a-crown for a pint of beer and received a florin and 3½d in change.
Smith had been served by Ellen Morris, who was the pub's landlady, and after attending to the man she had briefly left the bar and gone into another room. But she heard money being jingled in the bar and quickly returned to find the till open after being emptied of its contents and Samuel Smith in the act of departing. Ellen asked him what he had done with the cash but Smith replied that he had not touched it.
The police were called and upon searching the man found 10s 5½d on him, which corresponded almost exactly with the money missing from the till. But as Smith in St Helens Petty Sessions continued to protest his innocence, he was committed to take his trial at the next Kirkdale Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to four months hard labour.
Robert Rimmer was also in the Petty Sessions after refusing to leave the Albion Vaults in Parr after being requested to do so. PCs Sheriff and Murney had been summoned to the pub and when they got hold of Rimmer to put him out of the house, he immediately turned violent and kicked both constables with his clogs.
The man then threw himself to the ground and the officers had to place their prisoner in a 2-wheel spring cart to get him to the police station. But the magistrates decided to only fine Rimmer 10 shillings and costs after considering that the violence was not serious. I think if someone had repeatedly kicked me with their clogs, I'd have thought it serious!
And in another pub-related case, James Robinson was charged with being in the back premises of the Peel Arms in Westfield Street for the purpose of committing a felony. At 12:35am PC Hargreaves had watched Robinson trying several doors in the street and then saw him go into the backyard of the Peel Arms. Upon following the man he witnessed him in the act of trying a back window and so nabbed him. Robinson was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the popularity of guinea cat in St Helens, the theft from the Theatre Royal, the men prosecuted for not going to work and the Gerards Bridge daughter who stole her mother's clothes.
This week's many stories include the pigeon shooting on Croppers Hill, the feckless Feigh family are back in trouble, the Dentons Green Lane drowning, the spelling bee in Waterloo Street, the clog kicking of constables in Parr and the stealing from the till of the Swan Inn in Cotham Street.
These days, of course, bird shooting is banned – apart from game birds which can only be shot at certain times of the year.
But there were no limits 150 years ago with shoots often taking place involving the release of captured birds.
That did not mean that everyone approved of such slaughter and the St Helens Newspaper on the 11th included a letter that was critical of the practice.
The writer claimed that "would-be sportsmen" had recently used a field adjacent to the Engineer Hall on Croppers Hill to kill "defenceless pigeons".
The anonymous correspondent added: "After having killed or maimed all the pigeons, they retired, feeling no doubt very much elated by the signal bravery displayed."
The writer also wondered if Major Rothwell – who was in charge of the 2nd Lancashire Engineer Volunteers – approved of the field being used for "such an unmanly purpose".
Much of the St Helens district was quite rural in the 1870s with lots of open spaces.
Insights into the more rustic town would sometimes appear in the Newspaper within their reports on crimes or tragedies.
This week in their account of a man's body that was discovered in Dentons Green Lane we learn that there was then a deep pond and a field.
That could have been Littler’s Field, pictured above with the eponymous Mrs Littler, although it was probably a different one.
A farmhand ploughing the field had spotted the unknown deceased man in his late forties floating in the pond and informed the police.
It clearly was not a small pond as PC Daniel Callister needed to drag the water to retrieve the body, which was then taken to the Gerard Arms ready for the inquest.
Two days later the hearing was held in the pub and the usual open verdict of "found drowned" was returned.
Although enquiries would continue into the man's identity, the case had all the hallmarks of a mystery that would never be solved.
There were a few clues, such as a pawn ticket from a Liverpool shop and wearing a jacket with buttons bearing the stamp of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company.
But such deaths were common and it was most likely that the man would never be identified and no-one would know how he came to end his days drowned in a Dentons Green field.
In an editorial the Newspaper warned against what we might call fake news when detailing the causes of epidemics.
They wrote of the "great danger arising from mistaken notions of the cause and spread of infectious disease".
The paper said that in St Helens, "the fact of our having a deteriorated and impure atmosphere may cause many, through the want of proper and reliable information, to attribute various forms of disease to causes which are quite remote from the real ones."
The Newspaper even thought that the noxious vapours and impurities in the St Helens and Widnes atmosphere were to a very considerable extent specific to the two towns and not found in the same way elsewhere.
I always thought that spelling bee was an American term but the Newspaper used it in describing an event held at the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street this week.
Fifty competitors took part in the spelling event, which had two classes for adults and juveniles.
The Newspaper said the quality of spelling was remarkably good and prizes such as a pencil case, writing desk, a book and dictionaries were handed out to the winners.
The five members of the Feigh family were regularly in trouble, usually for drunkenness and petty theft.
Father Denis had dozens of convictions and his wife Margaret had more than twenty.
Their three sons were also often in court and because of the notoriety of their family, they received few favours.
This week Patrick and John Feigh appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with playing pitch and toss in Garden Street in Greenbank.
They had been caught playing the illegal gambling game along with Michael Garritty, who was also in court. However, he was only fined a shilling, plus costs.
However, because of their past history, the Feigh brothers had to pay £1 each, as well as costs, or go to prison for 28 days.
That would have been a week's wages and so, once again, Kirkdale Gaol was almost certainly the lads' destination.
I've learnt that a pint of beer cost 2½d in St Helens in 1876. At least that was how much the Swan Inn in Cotham Street was charging.
That information is gleaned from the report of a court case in which Samuel Smith was charged with stealing from the pub's till.
The 23-year-old had tendered half-a-crown for a pint of beer and received a florin and 3½d in change.
Smith had been served by Ellen Morris, who was the pub's landlady, and after attending to the man she had briefly left the bar and gone into another room.
But she heard money being jingled in the bar and quickly returned to find the till open after being emptied of its contents and Samuel Smith in the act of departing.
Ellen asked him what he had done with the cash but Smith replied that he had not touched it.
The police were called and upon searching the man found 10s 5½d on him, which corresponded almost exactly with the money missing from the till.
But as Smith in St Helens Petty Sessions continued to protest his innocence, he was committed to take his trial at the next Kirkdale Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to four months hard labour.
Robert Rimmer was also in the Petty Sessions after refusing to leave the Albion Vaults in Parr after being requested to do so.
PCs Sheriff and Murney had been summoned to the pub and when they got hold of Rimmer to put him out of the house, he immediately turned violent and kicked both constables with his clogs.
The man then threw himself to the ground and the officers had to place their prisoner in a 2-wheel spring cart to get him to the police station.
But the magistrates decided to only fine Rimmer 10 shillings and costs after considering that the violence was not serious. I think if someone had repeatedly kicked me with their clogs, I'd have thought it serious!
And in another pub-related case, James Robinson was charged with being in the back premises of the Peel Arms in Westfield Street for the purpose of committing a felony.
At 12:35am PC Hargreaves had watched Robinson trying several doors in the street and then saw him go into the backyard of the Peel Arms.
Upon following the man he witnessed him in the act of trying a back window and so nabbed him. Robinson was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the popularity of guinea cat in St Helens, the theft from the Theatre Royal, the men prosecuted for not going to work and the Gerards Bridge daughter who stole her mother's clothes.
These days, of course, bird shooting is banned – apart from game birds which can only be shot at certain times of the year.
But there were no limits 150 years ago with shoots often taking place involving the release of captured birds.
That did not mean that everyone approved of such slaughter and the St Helens Newspaper on the 11th included a letter that was critical of the practice.
The writer claimed that "would-be sportsmen" had recently used a field adjacent to the Engineer Hall on Croppers Hill to kill "defenceless pigeons".
The anonymous correspondent added: "After having killed or maimed all the pigeons, they retired, feeling no doubt very much elated by the signal bravery displayed."
The writer also wondered if Major Rothwell – who was in charge of the 2nd Lancashire Engineer Volunteers – approved of the field being used for "such an unmanly purpose".
Insights into the more rustic town would sometimes appear in the Newspaper within their reports on crimes or tragedies.
This week in their account of a man's body that was discovered in Dentons Green Lane we learn that there was then a deep pond and a field.
That could have been Littler’s Field, pictured above with the eponymous Mrs Littler, although it was probably a different one.
A farmhand ploughing the field had spotted the unknown deceased man in his late forties floating in the pond and informed the police.
It clearly was not a small pond as PC Daniel Callister needed to drag the water to retrieve the body, which was then taken to the Gerard Arms ready for the inquest.
Two days later the hearing was held in the pub and the usual open verdict of "found drowned" was returned.
Although enquiries would continue into the man's identity, the case had all the hallmarks of a mystery that would never be solved.
There were a few clues, such as a pawn ticket from a Liverpool shop and wearing a jacket with buttons bearing the stamp of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company.
But such deaths were common and it was most likely that the man would never be identified and no-one would know how he came to end his days drowned in a Dentons Green field.
In an editorial the Newspaper warned against what we might call fake news when detailing the causes of epidemics.
They wrote of the "great danger arising from mistaken notions of the cause and spread of infectious disease".
The paper said that in St Helens, "the fact of our having a deteriorated and impure atmosphere may cause many, through the want of proper and reliable information, to attribute various forms of disease to causes which are quite remote from the real ones."
The Newspaper even thought that the noxious vapours and impurities in the St Helens and Widnes atmosphere were to a very considerable extent specific to the two towns and not found in the same way elsewhere.
I always thought that spelling bee was an American term but the Newspaper used it in describing an event held at the Mission Hall in Waterloo Street this week.
Fifty competitors took part in the spelling event, which had two classes for adults and juveniles.
The Newspaper said the quality of spelling was remarkably good and prizes such as a pencil case, writing desk, a book and dictionaries were handed out to the winners.
The five members of the Feigh family were regularly in trouble, usually for drunkenness and petty theft.
Father Denis had dozens of convictions and his wife Margaret had more than twenty.
Their three sons were also often in court and because of the notoriety of their family, they received few favours.
This week Patrick and John Feigh appeared in St Helens Petty Sessions charged with playing pitch and toss in Garden Street in Greenbank.
They had been caught playing the illegal gambling game along with Michael Garritty, who was also in court. However, he was only fined a shilling, plus costs.
However, because of their past history, the Feigh brothers had to pay £1 each, as well as costs, or go to prison for 28 days.
That would have been a week's wages and so, once again, Kirkdale Gaol was almost certainly the lads' destination.
I've learnt that a pint of beer cost 2½d in St Helens in 1876. At least that was how much the Swan Inn in Cotham Street was charging.
That information is gleaned from the report of a court case in which Samuel Smith was charged with stealing from the pub's till.
The 23-year-old had tendered half-a-crown for a pint of beer and received a florin and 3½d in change.
Smith had been served by Ellen Morris, who was the pub's landlady, and after attending to the man she had briefly left the bar and gone into another room.
But she heard money being jingled in the bar and quickly returned to find the till open after being emptied of its contents and Samuel Smith in the act of departing.
Ellen asked him what he had done with the cash but Smith replied that he had not touched it.
The police were called and upon searching the man found 10s 5½d on him, which corresponded almost exactly with the money missing from the till.
But as Smith in St Helens Petty Sessions continued to protest his innocence, he was committed to take his trial at the next Kirkdale Sessions where he was found guilty and sentenced to four months hard labour.
Robert Rimmer was also in the Petty Sessions after refusing to leave the Albion Vaults in Parr after being requested to do so.
PCs Sheriff and Murney had been summoned to the pub and when they got hold of Rimmer to put him out of the house, he immediately turned violent and kicked both constables with his clogs.
The man then threw himself to the ground and the officers had to place their prisoner in a 2-wheel spring cart to get him to the police station.
But the magistrates decided to only fine Rimmer 10 shillings and costs after considering that the violence was not serious. I think if someone had repeatedly kicked me with their clogs, I'd have thought it serious!
And in another pub-related case, James Robinson was charged with being in the back premises of the Peel Arms in Westfield Street for the purpose of committing a felony.
At 12:35am PC Hargreaves had watched Robinson trying several doors in the street and then saw him go into the backyard of the Peel Arms.
Upon following the man he witnessed him in the act of trying a back window and so nabbed him. Robinson was sent to prison for a month with hard labour.
St Helens Newspaper courtesy St Helens Archive Service at Eccleston Library
Next Week's stories will include the popularity of guinea cat in St Helens, the theft from the Theatre Royal, the men prosecuted for not going to work and the Gerards Bridge daughter who stole her mother's clothes.